In Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) system in accordance with the PoE standard IEEE 802.3af or IEEE 802.3at and/or related standards, a power providing device (power providing equipment; PSE) provides a power to one or several powered devices (PD) via one or several electrical conductors (Ethernet cables). The power providing device is, e.g., a switch and the powered devices are, e.g., security cameras, wireless access points, VoIP telephones, etc. In accordance with the standard, the power consumption of a powered device is limited to a power level which is smaller than the power level that can be provided by the power providing device. This difference between maximum power consumed by the powered device and maximum power provided by the power providing device compensates for possible losses in the Ethernet cables. As such, cables of various qualities and lengths can be used within the ranges permitted by the standard and a compliant PD can be used with any compliant cable to connect to any compliant PSE.